Like any industry, the diamond and fine gemstone industry is dependent on consumer trust in the quality of the product. In this case, the product is a diamond or gemstone. To increase trust, consumers are given a certificate attesting to the features and quality of their purchase. In the case of diamonds, consumers measure the quality of the diamond by common criteria called the “4C's,” or color, clarity, carat, and cut. Generally, the 4C measurements are done by or with the assistance of precision electronic instruments and interpreted by human observation. The results eventually are recorded on a printed document called the “grading certificate,” “laboratory report” or “lab report” as shown in FIGS. 1-3. A light performance report may also be printed for a diamond as shown in FIG. 4. These documents are printed on durable paper containing text and two dimensional graphs and/or pictures for the diamond or gemstone. Often the paper documents are converted to an electronic format by scanning or other means for Internet transmission and subsequent viewing on a computer with a display monitor.
Many of the precision instruments used by the gemstone manufacturers and at gemstone testing facilities to make the measurements contained in the grading certificate are capable of producing much more valuable data than is ever reported in the grading certificate. For example, these laboratory instruments include the GemEx BrillianceScope® for analyzing light spectrometry, a Gran Colorimeter® for measuring tint or color, an Ogi Meqa Scope® or Sarin Brilliant Eye® for dimensions and angles, and a Rahman® Spectrophotometer for testing for synthetics. The valuable gemstone data obtained by these instruments is obscured from the consumer for two basic reasons. First, the shear immensity of the data does not allow it to be presented in a printed grading certificate. Second, the diamond sellers believe they need to filter and shape the information presented to the consumer in order to sell the gemstones.
Sophisticated consumers seek out information about gemstones before they make a purchase. Generally, there are two ways for consumers to obtain information about a gemstone they are considering to purchase. First, the consumer can request information from the seller of the gemstone. Second, and more recently, the consumer can do research on their own, primarily via the Internet. Unfortunately, the information available through these two channels closely parallels the same information contained in a traditional grading certificate. In some instances, the consumer is provided some additional text information that is not available on the printed reports, however, the information is very limited and difficult for the consumer to understand.
The present invention is intended to solve these and other problems.